My early S&W 617 issues

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pdbertb

New member
Purchased this used 1990 617 recently and discovered a few issues with it. I'm not real up to speed on terminology so I'll describe the problem the best I can. When I first got it home to clean it, I noticed a LOT of lead build up between the rear barrel and top strap, so much that I had to use a dentist pick to scrape it out. The gap between the barrel and cylinder at lock up is .008, which seems to be excessive and I would guess explain the lead build up.
On the first trip to the range the cylinder wouldn't turn after only 20 rounds through it due to spent rounds rubbing on the back side. I took it home and scrubed the cylinder bores real well when I noticed some burrs on both ends of the barrel that you can see in the pictures. Do you think it could have come from the factory like that and if not what would cause it?
I'm hoping this 617 wasn't abused in its former life.

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The rental gun at the range S&W 617 had so much lead on it was not funny. Above the forcing cone was like a chunk of lead just welded in there, not cleaned. The cylinder has huge lead patches on them. You think the cylinder was blued... :rolleyes: I was amazed it didn't blow up in my face.

Did you get this at the store or site unseen?

After I fire my revolvers I take a brash brush, and scrub the front of the cylinder to remove the burnt powered..
 
"Did you get this at the store or site unseen?"

It was on one of those days were everything looked good at the LGS ;)
 
Was it lead around the forcing cone, or just carbon build up? All of my SS revolvers have some carbon in the area you describe, and it takes some scraping to clean it up. I've not shot enough lead out of any revolver to get lead build up anywhere except the barrel. If lead were getting shaved between the cylinder and the forcing cone, I would think that would be an indication of timing problems.

Check out the sticky at the top of this folder about buying a used revolver.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57816
 
pdbertb:

If your 617 is leading as bad as you say, Smith's customer service will want to look at it.

Semper Fi.

Gnnery Sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
My wife had this problem with hers from new 2trips back to s&w now no problems it had large cyl. gap also now seems tighter I never measured it just visual guess
 
If your 617 is leading as bad as you say, Smith's customer service will want to look at it.
Click to expand...

Lets hold that thought for a moment.
First the OP stated he found this on initial cleaning. Chances are the previous owner did NOT clean it before trade in and its evident the LGS didn't clean it.

I have found with my Model 17 that lead bullets verses the copper covered will lead up the cylinder faster. Fellow shooters that have the 617 have stated the same with regards to lead and copper coated.
Before sending the gun to S&W or getting yourself all worked up switch ammo to copper plated/coated and see if that helps your issues. It may very well put your concerns to rest.
 
Absolutely right Don. What a great day! Went to the range and put over 2oo rounds through her without a hickup using Federal copper dipped with next to no leading. Think the gap issue isn't a big deal since it was shooting tight groups at 25ft. and knocked down all six 6" metal plates at 50 yards on a regular basis. Came home and got to watch my KINGS win the Stanley Cup!
The burring still has me puzzled though.
 
I might have the crown recut,then again, if accuracy is very good I might not.
that little nib back on the forcing cone wouldn't bother me though. IF the price was good, I'd just carry and shoot the heck out of it and not look back. I've been looking for a 617 by the way>;)
 
An .008 b-c gap is well within S&W specs and no cause for alarm.

I would clean out a much of that lead as possible, with a lead remover (copper/brass screen or copper/brass wool).

Jim
 
Thanks all. Upon inspection, it appears my last range trip actually made things better! Can hardly notice the muzzle burring and the inner barrel burrring looks almost gone as well, go figure. Nevermind!
 
The burring around the rear of the barrel is pretty much common on stainless S&W's. All it is is a burr left when the barrel was trimmed to set barrel-cylinder gap.
It's not unusual to see a burr all the way around the rear of the barrel and so sharp as to be a real hazard of getting a bad cut on a finger.
This burr has zero effect on the guns function.
I usually used a small ceramic stone the remove as much of the burrs as possible.

The burr on the muzzle is NOT normal and should be addressed. This can easily affect accuracy.
Since the gun is probably still covered under the S&W lifetime warranty, you might contact S&W and ask them to send you a shipping label so you can ship it back for correction.

A barrel-cylinder gap of 0.008" is right on the edge of what S&W USED to list as factory acceptable specs.
Today, on at least center-fire revolvers they say anything up to at least 0.012" is in spec.
In any case, this isn't unreasonable for your gun.

As for leading around the rear of the barrel and frame, this is totally normal for any revolver shot with soft lead bullets, like the .22LR.
Make a brass scraper similar to a small screwdriver blade and use it to scrape off the leading. Most will flake right off.
You can also cut thin strips of a "lead-away" cloth and use this to wipe off the carbon and leading by using the strip like a shoeshine cloth between the top of the barrel and the underside of the frame.

In short, other than the burr on the critical muzzle, everything is more or less normal for a stainless S&W.
 
Thanks for your concise reply Dferiswhel. Since accuracy is not an issue, I think I'll leave well enough alone as far as the muzzle goes.
 
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